NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe has given the go-ahead for the planning of a $1 billion-plus robotic mission to save the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).
However, the Goddard Space Flight Center-managed mission will not be confirmed until early next year after studies have been completed. An amendment to the NASA budget request for 2005 has been made to accommodate the mission planning, but may still face opposition, since the House of Representatives cut the original budget proposal of $16.2 billion by $1 billion.
A Space Shuttle servicing mission, planned for 2006, was cancelled after the Columbia accident in 2003, when it was decided no Shuttle would fly a solo mission in orbit. All missions will now fly to the International Space Station, which will also be used as a safe haven if the Shuttle is damaged.
Without the servicing mission, the HST will cease to operate in 2008 after its gyros and batteries fail. A robotic mission will be much more complicated and difficult to accomplish than a standard, proven, crewed Shuttle servicing mission and there are still many influential voices calling for the retention of a crewed mission.
TIM FURNISS / LONDON
Source: Flight International
